The present invention is related generally to systems for editing motion video and audio. More particularly, the present invention is related to computer-assisted motion video and audio editing systems, wherein motion video is stored as a sequence of digital still images and audio as a sequence of digital audio samples, in data files on a computer system or mobile device. The present invention is also related to systems for animated three-dimensional graphics projected onto a two-dimensional screen, and to systems with voice recognition.
Computer systems with motion video editing tools have been used to produce films, television shows, news broadcasts, commercials, sports programs, online video and home movies Like word-processing tools, such tools for editing video are now also commonplace in home computer systems and simple tools for trimming video clips are now in mobile devices. A computer-based video editing system is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,711 titled “Graphical User Interface for a Video Editing System” by Kevin J. Foreman et al. (2002). Also, for almost a century there have been chemical, mechanical and electro-mechanical devices that were used to shoot celluloid motion picture film, edit film, and combine film with magnetic audio tape to produce films for movie theater projection, television, and home video. These mechanical devices used intuitively obvious methods such as the forward/reverse switch, the hand crank, or the shelf of reels, to control the shooting, editing, organization, and projection of film. The film editing machine for example is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 1,921,469 “Film editing machine” by John J Kuhn, Roy V Terry (1930) and also in U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,389 “Horizontal film editing table” by Gardner R. (1974). However, the intuitive methods used for operating motion picture equipment have not translated into intuitive methods for editing motion video with a computer. Existing computer-based motion video editing tools are based upon the virtual desktop and mouse, derived from the original graphical desktop computers such as the Macintosh™ and the Windows™-based workstation. These methods are non-intuitive for video editing, and cannot be easily used with a touch screen or mobile device, or by spoken command, because the user interface is too complex and too cluttered. Accordingly, the aim of the present invention is to use the power of animated 3D graphics, touch screens, and voice recognition to simulate a virtual world of film editing equipment, to make video editing intuitive and easy.